


No Thanks Needed

by HK44



Series: Percy At The Nome [6]
Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, The Kane Chronicles - Rick Riordan
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-08
Updated: 2020-06-08
Packaged: 2021-03-04 06:54:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,343
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24599341
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HK44/pseuds/HK44
Summary: He moved his gaze from the sight below him to Grover, who was nervously clipping around the kitchen. It was strange to see someone not at home in the Nome. Then again, if anything Horus muttered was to go by, gods didn’t tend to get along with other gods. He supposed that would extend to any other creatures set in their respective cultures. Perhaps being made of magic, the Nome’s boundaries, all Egyptian hieroglyphs, felt wrong to him.He wondered if that’s how he’d feel if he ever visited Camp.
Series: Percy At The Nome [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1759660
Kudos: 48





	No Thanks Needed

When Carter walked out into the Great Room, he didn’t see anything worth being concerned about. When he realized he was counting an extra head, he stopped. The room was too at ease for it to be a monster but he was still on edge as he approached. Percy was leaning into the man’s side as they talked to the kids spread out around the couch and floor before them.

Sadie was curled into Anubis’s lap while Walt was balanced on hers.

She was so thoroughly sandwiched the only reason he even noticed her there was her arm snaked around his waist.

“Hey, guys.” Carter leaned over the couch, eying the man who was doubled over in laughter, his head fully hidden from his view. “What’s so funny?”

“Grover was just telling everyone about the time Percy tried to flip his sword and almost killed himself,” Jaz said. Her lips twitched. “Have you tried it since?”

“I have not,” Percy said. His skin was flushed red with embarrassment but he seemed at ease. More content than he’d been in weeks. “And I do not recommend it unless you like seeing your life flash before your eyes in the most mundane fucking way.”

The kids giggled as they always did whenever Percy swore. Everyone’s accent was so permed outside of New York, they all found it wholly hilarious the way his swung on curses - English and Greek. Carter had tried to stop any and all swearing around the kids for a few months. Then he burned himself on a pan trying to make Sadie a pancake breakfast for her birthday and the little anklebiters refused to let up on the swearing for a solid month.

It was then agreed that maybe normalizing cursing wasn’t all that bad. If anything, they could just blame New Yorkers whenever the kids visited home or their parents flew over for Family Day.

Grover titled his face back up, inhaling a wheezy breath. 

In all the years that Carter had known Percy, he hadn’t actually met any of the friends from his other life. He’d seen a few of their photos in grainy pictures taken on shitty polaroids that Percy had stashed in his wallet but that was about it.

In actual light without the noisy filter, Grover looked a lot more like a person. The bright orange shirt he wore stood out against his light brown skin. He had a wispy goatee and loose curly hair that just barely hid the horns that were poking up from the top of his head. Felix was wearing a thick knit cap Carter had never seen before. He must’ve used that to hide his horns completely.

He reached up and Carter leaned down across the back of the couch. As they shook hands, he smiled wide. “Carter, right? It’s nice to meet you.” As they released their hands, he leaned back and elbowed Percy lightly in the side. “This guy tells me  _ nothing _ .”

Percy ducked his head, nervously rubbing the back of his neck. “I- You know I-”

“Relax, P,” Grover said. He slung his arm around Percy’s shoulders and tugged him in close. “I’m kidding.”

Percy didn’t relax. Not right away. But Grover leaned into the side of his face to whisper something and he sighed. Most of the tension that had dug into him seemed to slide right out.

Carter smiled. “Well, you know, Percy tells us  _ nothing _ too so, I’d be  _ happy _ to hear all the stories you have of this guy.”

“Here, here!” Sadie yelled out from between her boyfriend sandwich. “Start with the stupid ones!”

Grover laughed as Percy went red again. “In a bit. I’m actually kind of hungry.” He looked around. “Where- where did I put my bag?”

Cleo glanced up from where she was thrown out on one of the beanbags, playing on the Switch. “The bag with the cans?” Grover nodded. “I put them in the recycling.”

She lowered her head and successfully got to avoid the way Grover’s eyes went wide with both shock and panic. He blinked rapidly and then let out a croaky, “ _ Oh _ .”

Percy winced. “Satyrs tend to eat cans, Cleo.” He leaned over and ruffled his hand through Grover’s hair, the other laughing at the treatment. “They’re their own recycling.”

“Oh!” Cleo stood up. She shoved the Switch into her pocket. “Um. Sorry.” She pointed behind her at the door. “I can go get them?”

Carter shook his head. “Nonsense. We have a kitchen and _ actual  _ food.” He glanced over at Grover, who seemed to be pulling into himself, meek and nervous. “I can show you and Percy can start telling actual stories for once.”

“Uh…” Grover glanced at Percy who nodded, slight, subtle. Relaxing, he looked back to Carter. “Yeah. Sure, that sounds great. Thanks.”

He rose to a stand, clip-clopping his way over to Carter who helped guide him to the elevator. As they binged up to the kitchen, they stood in silence. Grover kept fiddling with his pockets. Carter smoothed his hand over his shirt twice before asking, “Does it… Does it get hot when you wear pants?”

_ Seriously, Carter _ ?

He scowled.  _ Horus, go away. No one asked you to show up _ .

_ I refuse to let my favourite host be locked alone in a room with a strange Grecian creature without my supervision _ .

Carter rolled his eyes and mentally swatted Horus out of his head, the god swearing at him on his way out.

Grover cleared his throat. “Ah, not really?”

The elevator doors open before Carter could ask anymore stupid questions. He guided them out to the upper section of the Great Room. Below them, Percy appeared to be telling stories. They were too far up for Carter to really hear but the kids were leaning in, excited.

Carter wondered who he was talking about this time. He rarely ever told them anything about himself. The kids anyway. Carter lucked out to be trusted with the good and the bad and the deeply scarring. Sadie and Zia usually got an anecdote about something here and there. Walt tended to gather his stories about Percy from Nico.

He moved his gaze from the sight below him to Grover, who was nervously clipping around the kitchen. It was strange to see someone  _ not _ at home in the Nome. Even Percy, who viewed his presence for the first couple weeks as extremely temporary and only wanted through Carter, wasn’t this nervous about walking around unsupervised.

Then again, if anything Horus muttered was to go by, gods didn’t tend to get along with other gods. He supposed that would extend to any other creatures set in their respective cultures. Perhaps being made of magic, the Nome’s boundaries, all Egyptian hieroglyphs, felt wrong to him.

He wondered if that’s how he’d feel if he ever visited Camp.

“Um, Alia is vegetarian. She usually makes a lot. Likes to leave leftovers for everyone,” Carter said as he stepped around Grover and opened what was proudly declared as “The Leftovers Fridge” or “The One With All The Tupperware”. He squatted, rooting around for the yellow stamp Alia used to mark her meals. When he found one marked with an additional green dot, he tugged it out.

Looking it over, he handed it to Grover. “Post-it fell off but I think it’s stew.”

There was a book they kept that everyone used to mark when something was made and what it was and what the identifying markers used for it was. He made it mandatory after he woke up one night, sweating out of his clothes and decided that, you know what, this is the perfect time to clean everything. So much food was made and anything sent to the back of the fridge rarely ever was seen or eaten before it went bad.

After hauling piles of molded food into the trash and deciding, no, he was  _ not _ going to save the containers, he woke everyone up and told them about the book.

So far it was well used, little comments here and there about reheating times and someone setting a magic alert whenever anyone approached the book to yell about when something was going to expire so “PLEASE EAT ME, EAT ME WHOLE”.

He considered that it was Sadie but the truth was it could’ve very well been Walt. Or Julian.

Sadie was such a bad influence on them.

He flipped open the book and looked for Alia’s neat handwriting. Finding it, he glanced over the page to find the line that hadn’t been ticked off as eaten. Luckily, only one line had been left unticked. Green Bean Stew.

“Uh, microwaves are over there.” He gestured off to the countertop where the two microwaves sat. “Three minutes then stir then another three minutes.” He closed the book. “Sounds good.”

Grover nodded. As he uncapped the lid and slipped the stew into the microwave, he said, “I don’t think I’ve met Alia yet.”

“No, she stays at the First Nome with her mom on weekends.” Carter leaned against the kitchen table. “And everyone else is probably still sleeping or trying to sneak Freak into the city.”

“Freak?”

“My griffin.”

Grover cracked a slight smile. “A griffin? That’s neat.”

"Yeah." Carter rubbed the back of his neck, stifling a laugh. "I'm still trying to convince Percy to let me race him against Blackjack."

Grover laughed. As the microwave hummed, they fell into an easy silence. Then, after Grover stirred the stew around and slid it back in, he took a step back and looked over at Carter. His eyes crinkled as he smiled, soft.

"I want to say thank you." 

Carter shook his head. "It's not trouble. We have a lot of leftovers." He shrugged. "The anklebiters get homesick so Sadie likes to make things for them. Makes it easier for them to be away."

Grover stopped over to Carter and took his hand. Giving it a gentle squeeze, he said, "No, I meant with Percy." He let go and looked over the railing. Percy and the others were out of view but something calm and wistful had slipped over his face. "I was his protector. And I couldn't help him when he needed it most."

A sense of guilt slid through Carter's stomach. Then a pang of pity slapped on top of it. He felt queasy.

"I just- I mean, he called me and I thought-"

"I'm not mad, Carter." Grover swept his curls out of his eyes. He popped open the microwave door. "I mean it. I'm really grateful. Camp…" He shook his head while he stirred the steaming stew around. "It was safe for him. But not anymore." He croaked out a little laugh. "I was actually trying to set up a meeting with Persephone to see if she could get him safe haven in the Underworld before I found out he'd come here."

“Wow.” Carter swallowed thickly. “Lord of the Wild, right?” Grover nodded, sucking sauce off from his spoon. “Must be some neat perks.”

He shrugged. “It’s easier with nature gods. And Hermes since Pan was…” He dropped his gaze to the ground. “...his son.” Carter winced. Grover shook his head again. “Seriously, though, Carter. Thank you. Percy’s my best friend. After Hera wiped out our empathy link, I sort of panicked. He was already in a bad state at the end of the first war, even if he wouldn’t admit.”

He snorted. “Other people, he’d listen to. Himself?”

“He’d rather die.”

Grover closed his eyes and nodded. “That was scary to realize. I didn’t even know. I couldn’t feel him anymore.”

“Have you thought about putting it back up?” Carter asked.

He shook his head. “No. It was already risky enough the first time. We’d probably die if I tried again.”

Carter hissed. “Sorry about that, man.”

Grover smiled. “Don’t be. He’s safe here. He’s actually telling me about his feelings when I ask him about it now. I mean, he’s not fully honest about it but… it’s nice.” He looked back down to the container in his head, the steam just barely hiding the wetness growing against his eyes. “I don’t know what I’d do if he vanished again.”

Being empathetic to Grover’s emotions wasn’t difficult for Carter. He had had the same difficulties with the thought of losing Sadie. He’d wake up in the middle of the night and creep into her room, just to make sure she was there, just to see if she was breathing. Her powers were always a lot more explosive than his. For the months without Amos, he was in constant terror of the thought that she’d blow herself up in her sleep. That his homemade boundaries and limiters weren’t strong enough.

He worried and worried and made himself sick over his constant internal panic. Horus was a surprising help but it wasn’t enough.

Carter was in charge. The kids looked up to him. He had his father’s shadow, Amos’s shadow, Horus’s shadow towering over him, strength and responsibility and the only person he could stomach showing weakness in front of was Sadie and even then he tried his best to be strong for her. So she wouldn’t be afraid to come to him when she was scared.

So none of them would be.

And then he found out that Walt was dying and it made him feel like the worst caretaker in the world. How could he be so useless that he didn’t even notice? That he couldn’t do anything to help?

If he could’ve shipped Walt off somewhere that would make him feel alive, that would stop his curse, that would keep him safe, he would have.

And he would’ve been so grateful to whatever person or group that willingly took him in too.

“Percy’s my friend.” Carter reached out and placed a hand on Grover’s shoulder. “I just wanted to help him. No thanks needed.”

Grover smiled. With his free hand, he cupped Carter’s hand, tears still welling to his eyes.. “I’m giving it anyway.”


End file.
